• INSTITUTIONAL INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PRIVATE CAPITAL MARKETS


    Cairncross Capital operates within Australian private capital markets to institutionalise and scale the fund managers that are transforming Australia.

  • About

    Cairncross Capital operates upstream of institutional capital allocation.

    We focus on the point where governance, structure, and access determine whether capital can engage.

    This is where institutional capital is not typically deployed, and where most managers are not yet investable.

    By establishing institutional conditions early, allocation can occur with confidence, while investment philosophy remains intact.

    • Governance and responsibility

      Governance, institutional readiness, and capital engagement are structured to preserve fiduciary clarity for allocators and independence for managers.

      Investment decisions remain with the fund managers. Our role is to strengthen conditions for capital to engage, not to redistribute decision-making.

    • Philosophy

      Cairncross prioritises investment philosophy over presentation, and consistency over speed.

      Our approach is informed by experience across institutional capital markets and pattern recognition across fund managers and strategies globally.

      We partner with managers whose theses are already sound and differentiated, but whose structures are not yet compatible with institutional capital at scale.

    • Operating assumptions

      Social and environmental impact is fundamental and governed within the same parameters as financial outcomes.

      Impact is defined through long-term value creation, resilience, and repeatability.

      We apply stewardship alongside financial discipline, ensuring capital is allocated, governed, and monitored with consistency across both financial and impact outcomes.

  • Team

    Cairncross is led and governed by a team with experience across institutional capital and emerging manager ecosystems.

    Clear separation is maintained between governance, institutional readiness, and investment decision-making.

    • Rachel Halpern

      Founder & Chief Executive Officer

      Institutional capital markets leader bridging regulation, responsible investment, and GP staking.

      Rachel Halpern is the Founder and CEO of Cairncross Capital. She brings deep experience across responsible investment, regulation, and institutional capital markets.

      Rachel previously led Sustainability at JANA Investment Advisers, advising Australia’s largest institutional investors on ESG integration, stewardship, and impact. Earlier in her career, she held regulatory and legal roles at the UK Financial Conduct Authority and worked across State Street and Westpac, integrating ESG into capital allocation and investment processes.

      Her background combines regulatory fluency, investor insight, and operational execution. Rachel founded Cairncross Capital to address systemic barriers preventing high-quality emerging managers from accessing institutional capital at scale.

    • Renee Grogan

      Chief Strategy Officer

      Global sustainability strategist embedding ESG and impact into institutional investment practice.

      Renee Grogan leads Sustainable Investment Strategy at Cairncross Capital. She brings over 20 years of global sustainability leadership across investment strategy, ESG integration, and risk.

      Renee has advised institutional investors, fund managers, and entrepreneurs on sustainable value creation. She previously served on JANA’s Sustainability Advisory Council and was a co-founder of a deep-tech sustainable mining company.

      Her experience spans resources, infrastructure, and natural capital sectors. Renee holds a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and an MBA, and brings a practical, systems-led approach to institutional sustainability.

      Her industry experience spans mining and energy, infrastructure and natural capital sectors. Renee has advised large listed entities, private companies, government agencies in five continents, and intergovernmental organisations including the World Bank, United Nations and European Commission.

    • Kyah Bell

      Chief Commercial Officer

      Commercial leader responsible for capital formation, partnerships, and scaling Cairncross’s investment platform.

      Kyah Bell is Chief Commercial Officer at Cairncross Capital, where she is responsible for capital formation, partnerships, and the commercial development of the Cairncross platform.

      Kyah leads investor engagement, supports fundraising processes, and helps translate Cairncross’s strategy into clear and scalable commercial outcomes. Her role focuses on connecting investors, partners, and fund managers while helping build the infrastructure required for Cairncross to operate as a disciplined and institution-grade platform.

      Kyah brings experience across capital raising and fund design, having founded and scaled several ventures and worked across investment and advisory ecosystems in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East.

      A proud Wulgurukaba, Bindal, and Juru woman, Kyah founded the Black Excellence Fund to expand Indigenous access to and participation in private markets.

      She was appointed to the HSBC Indigenous Advisory Board in recognition of her leadership in financial inclusion and continues to advance institutional change through values-aligned capital partnerships.